The Pittsburgh Penguins — the first team to hoist back-to-back Stanley Cups in the salary-cap era — have two surefire Hall of Famers in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

The Chicago Blackhawks, with three Stanley Cups of their own in the past decade, have a trio of future Hockey Hall of Famers in Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Duncan Keith. And if I got to vote, I’d put Marian Hossa in there, too.

Go back in NHL history and look at all the championship rosters. The evidence is overwhelming. It takes great players to win the Stanley Cup.

Not just good players.

Great players.

At this point you may be thinking, “Thanks, Captain Obvious. Teams need great players to win the Stanley Cup. You should be a GM!”

To which I’d reply, yes, I should be.

But the main reason I bang the “get great players” drum so loudly is that fans (and management, for that matter) often forget just how high the...